CSMCONNECT http://science.kennesaw.edu
ISSUE 06
Fall / 2015
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS BIANNUAL NEWSLETTER
ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND ORGANISMAL BIOLOGY
CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY
MATHEMATICS
MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY
PHYSICS
STATISTICS AND ANALYTICAL SCIENCES
CSMConnect is the College of Science and Mathematics’ (CSM) biannual newsletter designed to keep you informed of the latest activities and developments going on in the college. CSM is soaring into the next level of national prominence through cutting-edge research. The College is active in local and international scientific communities and promotes innovation in teaching. CSM values the networks developed with partners on and off campus. You are important in our network of partners.
National Institutes of Health awards Kennesaw State University $1 million grant Grant will fund research program to increase diversity in biomedical sciences The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Kennesaw State University’s College of Science and Mathematics a five-year, $1.018 million grant to increase the number of doctorate-holding scientists from underrepresented groups. The NIH award recognizes the strength of Kennesaw State’s biomedical research programs and its commitment to building diversity in the nation’s biomedical research workforce. Serving as the lead institution, Kennesaw State’s College of Science and Mathematics will work with partner institutions Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Regents University and the University of Georgia to educate and train Ph.D.-level scientists. The grant is designed to annually recruit college graduates who want to further their science education, eventually obtaining a doctorate degree. Participants will pursue master’s degrees in Integrative Biology or Chemical Sciences, learning modern research techniques using cutting-edge instrumentation such as optical biosensors, next generation sequencing and confocal microscopy in Kennesaw State’s 73,000-square-foot Science Laboratory building.
“The NIH award recognizes the strength of KSU’s biomedical research programs and its commitment to building diversity in the nation’s biomedical research workforce.” The NIH selected Kennesaw State in part because it already has multiple NIH-funded researchers who will contribute to the students’ diverse mentoring and learning opportunities. “With multiple externally funded researchers and a new research facility, Kennesaw State’s master’s programs in Integrative Biology (MSIB) and Chemical Sciences (MSCB) offer highly individualized, flexible and unique training and mentoring environments,” Anderson said.
As part of their individual development plans, participants will also prepare for and, upon completion of their studies, bridge to biomedical doctoral programs.
Anderson said Associate Dean for Research and Associate Professor Jonathan McMurry will direct the program, which will draw other professors and mentors from Kennesaw State’s Departments of Molecular and Cellular Biology, as well as Chemistry and Biochemistry.
“Kennesaw State’s programs are small and flexible enough to execute highly individualized training in an array of disciplines from synthetic chemistry to developmental biology and in interdisciplinary endeavors that may take participants from high performance computing to microliter-scale calorimetry,” said Mark Anderson, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics.
“Our goal is to recruit participants from historically black colleges and universities and Appalachian-serving institutions that are not yet well integrated into NIH research enterprises as well as from other sources such as the Peach State LSAMP consortium and other primarily undergraduate institutions throughout the Southeast,” McMurry said.